Ok, so basically, I work for a company in Boston. It is a pottery plainting place where people come in and paint their stuff.

Well, the business is expanding and the owners need money to get started on it. They opened up a new store, and two new product lines as well and they are the distributors to many pottery places in the Northeast.

The place brings in about 150k to 250k a year, depending on several factors. Under my leadership, it could easily make 250k, which would translate into 150-200k in profit (taxes do not need to be paid when repaying a loan). We are down 2% from last year so far, but this month is already 26% up from last year which may translate into actually being up for the whole year YoY. The loan for buying the place is 400k, and it would entail owning the actual retail space and the business. With interest, I would own the place after 2 years.

I also want to extend the hours and bring in some big screens (with some kind of protection) and run a late night lan where people can get drunk and play video games. I already have about 68 people interested in this idea.

(we have a lot of people who come in and paint game themes on pottery, so those clients were easy to find. At least twice a month people make WoW mugs, and someone made a modern warfare 2 plate yesterday and his girlfriend made a mario bowl.)

Anyway, the help I need is regarding getting loans. I've written out a business plan (about 32 pages long with about 11 excel spreadsheets) as well. I don't know if any of you are in business or legal or banking fields, but I will ask anyway:

If I am trying to get a small business loan, is there anything I could do that would help me secure a loan? Is there anyone specifically I should talk to? Does anyone have an idea what my chances are for getting a loan for this?

I really do hope someone smarter than me offers you some sage advice, but.......you know this is a video game website? In two years, when you're bankrupt, you may pinpoint this moment as the exact second things went wrong.

heh, I took a class on entrepreneurship, but I don't really know all that much. Sounds like you did the right thing to me. Did you meet with people in person or are you just doing this via phone/e-mail. In person you might be able to excite the lender a little more and convince him to give you money.

It sounds like you are off on how long it would take to buy the place (based on information provided in your post). You are looking to borrow 400k, with 150-200k profit per year. You are talking probably 3-4 years or more depending on interest rate, unforeseen investments needed, and if you are including your own salary. Of course, I'm making some assumptions as I don't really know to much about small business loans.

Also, I'm not sure if the LAN business would fly with investors, of course you need to feel this out for yourself. If you find people are turning you down, ask why. You could drop the LAN from your business plan and you may be able to get an initial investment for the store, and then get another loan later for the extended business.

Investments are probably down due to the recession, but you should still be able to get money if you can convince them you'll be able to pay them back.

haha
I think you undervalue the value of the people on this site.
Some are bankers, some are business owners.
I know some people in eve who work on wall street.

The business itself is sound. It has no possibility of failing short of the building collapsing on itself killing me and 40 children inside.

Yeah. I was going to send a message to Highwaystar, but Nordlead has stepped up to the plate. I know we've got some bright people here. I just don't want the future of your business in the hands of a bunch of strangers. Glad you respect our opinions, and us as people/friends to ask us about such important decisions in your life!

Ok yes, it could be around 3-4 years. That would be if I paid myself to work here, which I didn't intend to do, and there are no other investments that I would need for the business. The figure I used was 7% APR. Last year we did 170k (223k revenue) straight up profit. Including everything.

However, I know that I can expand by several ways. Previously the business was doing 250k+ (before costs)when the owner was here and organizing things like school involvement and party planning.

I actually don't plan to run the lan here for profit and I don't want to have it in the business plan either. I want to do that for myself, but it could easily bring in 4-5 thousand a year if done correctly.

Thanks for your advice. Maybe the most important thing is convincing them I could pay the loan back? Or do banks nowadays hope that I can only pay back 90% of the loan, so that they can take the business as well?

Hmmm talking to them in person could really help improve my chances.

of course i trust you lewis!
you own all three home consoles. THat's how I know you're not biased.

When I say unknown investments, I mean for when things break, in other words normal maintenance items which can get expensive fast. Ultimately that shouldn't really affect your loan potential, but just saying keep things in perspective. It would be really cool for you to own the business and make +200k/year in profits. As I said, I don't really know your situation, but I'm just trying to help you think things through.

Just a few things to note about your business plan. Make sure you make it interesting right off the bat. Some lenders get a lot of applications and throw away the plans after reading the first page. You may want to investigate some standard templates and make sure the big selling points are right up front. Essentially that you have a good business that is guaranteed to return a profit. If you bury that information way back in the excel sheets they may not get that far.

oh, and I have to say, as much as I'd love to do something like this myself (own my own business) I rely on dependable income too much. I don't think I could deal with having to risk everything I have.

yeah I hear ya.
It is quite an investment. Hopefully it will work out for me.